Related Conditions

Cold in Children

Overview

A cold, also called an upper respiratory infection (URI), is a collection of symptoms and one of the most common illnesses, leading to more doctor visits and absences from school and work than any other illness each year.

Most children will develop at least six to ten colds a year. This number increases for children who attend daycare.

Colds do not happen as much after the age of 6.

Adolescents and adults get colds about two to four times a year.

It is estimated that during a one-year period, people in the United States will suffer one billion colds.

How Children's approaches colds

Children's experts have testified in front of the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) on the dangers of giving cough and cold medicines to children under age 6. Our physicians and researchers are also vocal about the danger of antibiotic resistance that can develop when antibiotics are overprescribed or prescribed incorrectly—for example, for the common cold.

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The future of pediatrics will be forged by thinking differently, breaking paradigms and joining together in a shared vision of tackling the toughest challenges before us.”